


The Light

by Beautiful_Nightmare



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Red Queen OUAT - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 15:12:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12534648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Nightmare/pseuds/Beautiful_Nightmare
Summary: Written for Red Queen Week Day 4 - Alternate UniverseRuby tries her best to keep her powers hidden, until one day, a beautiful brunette is in danger and Ruby exposes herself by saving her.





	The Light

The sky was a bright blue, soft white clouds floated lazily by, birds were singing from the tree tops as the wind lightly blew.  Children laughed and played, chasing one another around the open field of green. 

Ruby sat under a tree, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders.  She watched the scene play out in front of her but all she felt inside was empty.  Empty and alone.  Her inner thoughts were raging a war against her and she didn’t know what to do how to process them. 

She scribbled into the small notebook in her lap; she had ended up drawing an empty room full of shadows with no signs of light.  Ruby knew she was different than everyone else, ever since she was a young girl, and it hurt her.  She was constantly isolated, feared, and stared at. 

It started when she was nine and at school.  She was sitting in the playground eating her lunch in peace when Laura came up to her, pushed her backward and pulled her hair.  Something that day snapped inside of her and she picked Laura up with one hand and threw her several metres away into a crowd of bystanders. 

She was horrified at her actions and she ran faster than she ever had before, leaping over fences and out of the school grounds.  She ran through the streets knocking people over and ended up at an abandoned railway yard where she broke down and started crying, all the weeds and grass around her turning black and dying.

Ever since that day Ruby did everything she could to hide who she truly was.  She practiced her skills in private, refining them to perfection just in case she ever needed them. 

Getting up from her spot under the tree Ruby stretched her long legs and placed her notebook in her back pocket.  She needed a change of scenery, the park was too happy and everyone was so cheerful.  Walking toward the footpath, Ruby closed her green eyes for a second and she could hear the very faint sound of a woman in distress.

Her eyes snapped open, a strange feeling coursed through her, she felt drawn toward the voice.  Ducking behind a tree Ruby closed her eyes and concentrated.  The woman sounded scared, she was asking, begging, someone to stop what they were doing.

Tapping into her superhuman strength, Ruby ducked in an out of the people around her moving fast enough so no one would see her.  She got to the fire escape of a tall apartment building and bound up it in four leaps.  She hid behind a large power box, surveying the area.

A tall, intimidating, balding man had a small woman pressed up against the side of the stairwell, he was yelling at her about a gambling debt her mother owed.  The woman was gorgeous in every sense of the word.  She had dark eyes and dark hair with a thin, vertical scar on her top lip. 

Ruby felt the need to protect the woman, she didn’t know why but she knew she had to do it.  Stepping out and over to the man, Ruby picked him up in one swoop and held him over the side of the building.

“If you ever go near this woman again, I’ll hunt you and I’ll find you, and I’ll drop you from the rooftop of the tallest building in the area.  Do you understand?” Ruby threatened, dropping the man onto the rooftop.

“I understand, I’m so sorry Miss,” the man replied, scrambling to his feet and down the stairwell.

Walking over to the brunette Ruby knelt down so she was eye level with the woman now sitting on the cold ground.  “Are you okay?” she asked, placing a hesitant hand on the woman’s knee.

“I am now, thank you,” the woman responded.  “I’m Regina,” she added, introducing herself.

“It’s nice to meet you Regina, I’m Ruby,” Ruby replied, feeling warmth inside her heart.

“Ruby, my saviour,” Regina smiled, watching the green eyed woman stand up, offering her a hand.

“I try,” Ruby responded, wondering why Regina hadn’t run for the hills yet.  “You’re not scared of me?” she gingerly asked, knowing that everyone left her.

“I’m not, you rescued me, I thought he was going to kill me because of my mother, but you stepped in and now I feel safe with you here,” Regina replied, taking hold of Ruby’s hand.

“I really don’t know how you feel safe, everyone who knows about it runs and never comes back,” Ruby responded, feeling the emptiness return briefly before it was replaced with the warmth.

“You mean everyone who knows about your special abilities?  I’m guessing superhuman strength, speed, and hearing?  Anything I’m overlooking?” Regina tried to clarify.

“I wouldn’t call them special and yes,” Ruby vaguely answered, giving Regina’s hand a squeeze as they descended down the fire escape.

“So, you’re a mystery, one I’d very much like to solve maybe over dinner if you’re interested?” Regina confidently asked, making Ruby blush.

“I think I’d very much like that if you can answer me one question,” Ruby said, stopping to look at Regina.  “Why is it that when I’m with you the emptiness and loneliness goes away and all I feel is warmth in my heart?”

“Because I’m like you Ruby, you have superhuman abilities and I’m able to feel emotions, sometimes if there is a strong connection you can feel mine too,” Regina replied, holding both of Ruby’s hands in her own.

“I’ve never met anyone like me before,” Ruby responded, looking at their joined hands, not wanting to let go. 

“Same here, would you like to go to the park so we can get to know each other?” Regina suggested, not wanting to waste the good weather or leave Ruby.

“I was there when I heard you, I would like to go back especially with you,” Ruby blushed, feeling her heart rate increase.

Walking to the park hand in hand, Ruby and Regina sat on the soft grass near a blooming flowerbed. 

“So, tell me about yourself,” Regina said, looking into sparkling green eyes.

“There’s not much to tell, I grew up living with my grandmother, my parents abandoned me when I was a baby, and the second I hit eighteen I moved away from everyone I knew and loved to protect them from me, and I’ve been here ever since keeping a low profile,” Ruby said, able to sum up her life in only a few sentences. 

“That doesn’t sound happy,” Regina frowned, placing a hand on Ruby’s thigh.

“How about you?”  Looking into brown eyes, Ruby tried to change the subject.

“As you’re aware, my mother was addicted to gambling, she died, left a massive debt to her bookie, and now he’s been after me for the last three years and today he finally found me,” Regina replied, the light in her eyes dimming.

“Hopefully now he’ll never harass you again.”  Ruby moved closer to Regina and wrapped an arm around the shorter woman’s shoulders, the warmth increasing.

Leaning her head on Ruby’s shoulder Regina began to tell Ruby about everything and anything she could think of.  Ruby laughed and related her own life stories back, getting to know the woman who warmed her heart.

“Oh god, look at the time, we’ve been here for hours,” Regina gasped, looking at her watch.

“I didn’t even realise,” Ruby replied, looking up at the sky to see the sun beginning to set.  “I’m sorry I kept you for so long.”

“You don’t need to apologise, I’ve enjoyed spending my time with you,” Regina said, intertwining her fingers with Ruby’s.  “I wouldn’t have spent my day any other way.”

“Maybe we can do this another time then,” Ruby suggested; her feelings all over the place for Regina.

 “I still owe you dinner so our night doesn’t have to end right now,” Regina offered, not wanting Ruby to leave.

“I’d like that I am getting kind of hungry.”  Reaching her hand out toward the flowerbed Ruby touched the stem of a budding flower and it grew and bloomed into a beautiful rose.  Breaking it off, she held it out to Regina.  “A beautiful rose for a beautiful woman,” she said, looking into brown eyes.

Taking the rose, Regina looked at it in awe, and smiled at Ruby.  “It’s gorgeous, thank you, I don’t know what to say,” she replied, looking at Ruby’s lips.  “I will show you instead,” she added, softly cupping Ruby’s face with her hand and kissing her gently.

Slowly pulling back, breaking their kiss, Ruby leant her forehead against Regina’s, the light returning to her life.  “Shall we go to dinner?”

“It’s a date,” Regina replied, standing up and offering her hand to Ruby.  Intertwining their fingers, she placed a chaste kiss on Ruby’s cheek as they walked through the park, heading towards a row of restaurants.

 


End file.
